butternut squash, sage, and pancetta cast iron skillet pizza

well, i suppose hello’s are in order.

i guess i took the summer off from food blogging? i really didn’t mean to and i was in fact still cooking quite a bit, i just… summer’d. to the very best of my ability, and enjoyed every streak of sunshine, every rooftop beer, every thicket of virginia humidity, every juicy slice of peach, every concert (concerts are back, who are we??), and every weekend spent not chained to my oven or laptop. it was lovely and nourishing and it was necessary.

however, daylight has shrunk itself and whatever automatic shift that happens in september has switched my brain to autumnal vibes only, and now it’s fall and that means BE COZY at all times, so here we are making and burrowing and setting ourselves up nicely for hibernation. i’m bringing pizza.

i made infinite cast iron pizzas over the summer - on the grill, in the oven, failures, and finally successes, burnt crusts, tweaks in technique, and lots and lots of cheese. someone had to experiment with all the pizzas, and i humbly accepted the job. i’m most excited to share this version, which bakes up quickly in an extra hot oven, featuring roasted butternut squash, crispy salty pancetta, fresh sage leaves, and a little nutmeg to round things out with warm spice. fall flavors only, my friends.

i hope you have some, any, all the excuses to make a cast iron skillet pizza just because. we got into the weekly pizza night rotation around here and it’s been a fun, small thing to look forward to; toppings rotating based on what we had in the fridge, the weirdly special ‘it’s pizza night!’ on a wednesday. highly recommend giving yourself this gift of crispy crust joy.

a few things before we get started:
- if you’re intimidated by pizza dough, PLEASE DON’T BE, because i use pre-made dough for this. it makes life easier and the rate of failure drops significantly if you leave the dough bit up to someone else
- i roasted the butternut squash ahead of time. the recipe doesn’t factor this in, so adjust your cook time accordingly if you’re doing it all at once
- pancetta is essentially italian bacon, so if you can’t find it, thick cut bacon will work great here
- if you don’t eat meat, skipping the pancetta altogether will also work great here (maybe add mushrooms instead!)
- we’re doing a double-dip with the dough once it’s stretched to fit the cast iron skillet. basically just coating both sides with the oil so we can get all the flavor possible, and to prevent the dough from sticking
- full send on the cheese and sage leaves. I won’t stop you from having the most delicious things

butternut squash, sage, and pancetta cast iron skillet pizza
makes 1 pizza
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes

1 pizza dough ball (i buy these pre-made - makes life easier, but if you have a dough recipe you love, go for it)
1/2 an onion, sliced
6oz pancetta (or bacon), diced
1c butternut squash, roasted and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2c finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
1/4c fresh sage leaves
1/2tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
2tbsp olive oil, divided

preheat the oven to 475.
heat 1tbsp olive oil over medium high in a cast iron skillet. add the onion and pancetta, and saute until the onion is golden and the pancetta is crispy. remove the onion and pancetta from the skillet, and set aside. turn off the stovetop heat. add the remaining olive oil to the skillet, and tilt the skillet side to side to coat the bottom entirely. this is going to prevent your dough from sticking.

start to form your pizza dough. wet your fingers a bit, then work the dough in circular motions, pulling gently at the edges as you rotate (i find doing this in the air, stereotypical italian-chef style works best.) once you have the dough stretched to 3/4 the size of your cast iron, place it in the skillet. the warmth from the skillet will help relax the dough, and from here you can keep gently pushing out the center and sides until the dough is even and fits snugly into the cast iron. flip the dough just once; this coats both sides with the yummy oil from the onions and pancetta.

assemble the pizza. start with a layer of the cheese and sprinkle onto the dough. then add the squash, onion, pancetta, garlic., and nutmeg. top with the sage leaves, salt, and pepper, and finish with the rest of the cheese. bake the pizza for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and bubbly.